U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Water Power Program

Arizona Requires 15 Percent Renewable Power by 2025

November 8, 2006

Arizona regulators approved new rules on November 1st that will require the
state's utilities to draw on renewable energy for 15 percent of their
electricity supply by 2025. For 2006, utilities must generate
1.25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy resources.
The rules also require a growing percentage of the electricity to come
from distributed generation systems—residential or non-utility
owned installations. The distributed energy requirement starts at
5 percent of the renewable energy supply in 2007 and grows to
30 percent of the renewable power after 2011. The new Renewable Energy
Standards replace the state's earlier Environmental Portfolio
Standard, which topped out at 1.1 percent renewable power in 2007. In
February 2004, the regulators voted to review the rules and consider
adopting a more aggressive standard. See the
press release
from the Arizona Corporation Commission.